Your Song

Chapter Twenty Two | Stay

"Is she alright?" Langa asked, kneeling down next to you and Miya.

"Yeah, she's fine. Just tired." Miya wrapped his arms around you, smelling the soft scent of your shampoo as you leaned into his chest. You fell asleep the moment the stadium cleared out.

"What are you guys still doing here?"

Langa stood up and stood in front of you as the man that Miya saw when he visited emerged from amongst the shadows of backstage.

"You're not supposed to be here after a show."

"I'm her brother. I can stay as long as I want."

Miya held you closer to him, your breath hitting his neck. It was so rigid and slow. "Why is she so tired?" Langa questioned, glancing at the door to the stadium and seeing the others still standing in the doorway. "She's not normally like this after a show."

"She works hard. And she needs to continue working hard, so you need to leave." The man's eyes flickered towards Miya. "You..."

"You're conversation is with me." Langa stepped into the man's vision. "Who are you? And where's Kotaro?"

The man arched his brow. "I'm his temporary replacement."

"And you are?"

"Shou."

Miya furrowed his brow. You mean the guy that merged his daughter with their dog in Fullmetal Alchemist? "Um, well, when is Kotaro coming back?"

"Whenever he feels like it." He reached out to grab Langa's wrist. "But you are leaving whether you like it or—"

Slap

Reki stood between Langa and Shou, his arm in front of Langa and his other hand still in the position it was after slapping Shou across the face. "You're not allowed to lay a finger on him no matter who you think you are."

The stadium was filled with silence.

Mr. Happy Go-Lucky wasn't acting too happy at the moment.

"Come on, let's get Y/N to her studio." Reki jumped down from the stage and looked back at Miya and Langa. "Let's go."

The two looked at each other and nodded, Miya putting his hands under your thighs and on your back and lifting you up so he could follow Langa down the stage steps.

Shou stood onstage, holding the cheek that Reki slapped as the doors to the stadium swung closed.

"I told you, she has friends."

He looked up at one of the backup singers. She stepped down from her small platform and handed the mic to him. "Frankly, if you're not going to listen to any of us, you should listen to them. Besides, her original manager is bound to come back soon."

Soon enough, Shou was the only one in the stadium , the lights going dim and the doors shutting one last time.

He recalled something you had said.

"My friends? No, they're not my friends. That's... my family. And you dare lay a finger in them, I'll send you one ticket straight to hell."

•••

Miya laid you on the couch, placing a pillow under your head.

"Thanks for bringing her." Nora said, sitting down next to the couch and putting her hand on your arm. "I knew she was getting overworked, but..."

Langa glanced at Reki. His face was serious and he was leaning on the wall, his eyes fixated on the ground.  "Reki?" Reki looked up, meeting eyes with Langa and his cheeks going red with Langa's face being a few inches from his. "Y-Yeah, what's wrong?"

He gave Reki a smile. "Thanks for what you did earlier."

"I-It's no problem."

Shadow looked around. Miya was holding your hand tightly. Yu's head was on Eiji's shoulder. Reki and Langa were practically glued to each other's side. Kaya and Nora were (rather unintentionally) placing their hands atop the other's. Hina had her arms around Shindo from the back. Cherry and Joe were doing the awkward couple thing where they sat about a foot away from each other, sparing each other a glance ever so often.

Wait a damn minute.

"Hiromi?" Kaya tilted her head. "What's the matter?"

"No, no, nothing. Nothing at all." He turned and went into another room.

Your eyes slowly opened and Miya saw your sky-like eyes, the lights in your studio reflecting off of them like the sun on the ocean. They were so soft. Calm.

Is this what Reki saw when he looked into Langa's eyes.

You held onto his hand. "Are you alright?" Miya asked and you slowly nodded, sitting up. "Where are we...?"

"Your studio."

"O-Oh! Did you...?" You slapped your hand over your mouth. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." Your voice trailed off once you noticed.

Noticed what? Well, everything.

Your friends all stopped what they were doing and ran over to you to ask if you were okay. The adults were gathered around, asking if you needed anything. You pushed them away. You did something terrible, purposely this time. But... they were still there. Your friends were still there.

"Y/N, what do you think friends are?" Kotaro asked. You looked up from your notebook. "Weird time to bring up that question, don't you think?"

"There's never a wrong time to ask something like that." Kotaro answered. You twiddled with your pencil for a moment. "I'm not sure. What do you think?"

"Well, that Miya boy could work as an example."

You dropped your pencil and let it clatter onto the ground. "...What makes him different?"  You leaned down and picked up your pencil, noticing the chipped graphite at the end of it, sighing in slight irritation. "June acted just like he does. And look what happened."

"There's something different about this one."

You looked down at the hand rested over yours, the concern evident in Miya's eyes. A small smile appeared on your face. You were right, Kotaro. This one is different.